Healthy choice: Oven baked polenta crust chicken - gluten free and egg free

Gluten free, egg free but full of flavour and texture. 

This is a healthier version of fried chicken.  I used to make my children these as chicken goujons, minus the salt and pepper. The polenta gives a delicate crust and the mildly spiced flavour comes from the paprika.

If you can get supremes of chicken with the breast bone and end wing bone intact you will find the meat stays moist better than using breast fillets.  I bought a whole small chicken from Aldi for £2.99 and removed the supremes, the joints are in the freezer for another meal.

I served with a lemon and herb creme fraiche dip, French fries, sweet corn and a chargrilled corgette from my kitchen garden.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1. 4 heaped tablespoons of fine polenta/cornmeal
2. 1level tsp sweet smoked paprika
3. Half tsp salt
4. Half tsp milled black pepper
5. 2 Supremes of chicken on the bone (or 2 breasts) skin removed, apart from reducing the fat the polenta seems to adhere better to the flesh.  I score my chicken three times to help it cook quickly
6. 150mls milk
7. 1tbsp of olive oil

Method:

Place the chicken in a large food bag and pour the milk over.  Leave to one side to come up to room temperature and to imbibe in the milk to tenderise a little.  In another large food bag or a bowl mix the polenta, paprika, salt and pepper well to evenly combine the ingredients.

Rub the olive oil over the base of a cookie sheet or shallow baking tray and pre heat the oven to 200C.  

Next, place the chicken into the bag with the dry ingredients and close the top.  Roll them around to evenly coat pressing down hard to ensure the crumbs stick well.

Keep any remaining dry mix, you may need to patch a few gaps when turning the chicken. 

Place the chicken on the prepared cookie sheet with the breast bone up and place into the oven for 15 minutes, after the initial 15 minutes lower the oven temperature to 180C and turn the chicken, cook for a further ten minutes then turn again for the last 5 minutes cooking.  

Check the chicken is cooked by cutting into one at the thickest part, clear juices should be visible.